Harvest Moon Arts & Crafts Festival – A Taste of Parkersburg

Sept. 14-16, 2012

Day One

Arrive in Parkersburg, WV and check into Blennerhassett Hotel or other hotel. Dinner is on your own at A Taste of Parkersburg Festival, next to the Blennerhassett Hotel or at a local restaurant. Savor the flavor of Parkersburg with food, wine, entertainment and artisans. Taste selections from more than a dozen local restaurants and over 40 different wines. Optional -Save room for dessert which you’ll have at the Smoot Theater, originally built as a vaudeville house, the Smoot was purchased by Warner Brothers in 1930, and for the next 56 years, was used primarily for movies. The Smoot’s stage has provided performance for many -Vaudeville acts, the Hilton Sisters and their saxophones, Guy Lombardo and his orchestra, dancing girls, elephants, Arthur Lake (Dagwood in the movies), and even Miss West Virginia.

Day Two

After breakfast, it’s off to Blennerhassett Museum and Island. Visit the museum which showcases three floors of priceless historical relics and objects of art from the Ohio Valley’s past. Exhibits range from prehistoric Indian tools, jewelry, weapons and household items, ca. 9000 B.C., to oil paintings, old clothing, guns and military paraphernalia, furniture belonging to West Virginia’s first governor, automobiles of the 19teens, farm implements, 19th-century jewelry and glassware ranging in age from 60 to 200 years old.Native American artifacts and other exhibits. Ride the sternwheeler to the Blennerhassett Island, tour the historic mansion, take a horse-drawn wagon ride, and have a hot box lunch (2 pieces of fried chicken or baked ham, 2 vegetables, side, roll, banana and beverage). Blennerhassett Island was an Indian rendezvous and is the site of Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park. At Blennerhassett House mansion, Aaron Burr and Harman Blennerhassett were alleged to have plotted treason against the United States, the so-called Burr Conspiracy. Returning to the mainland, spend the afternoon at the Harvest Moon Arts and Crafts Festival, where you’ll find 200 vendors including juried artisans and craft demonstrations. Enjoy the entertainment, festival food, and crafts. Dinner is at the Blennerhassett Hotel or a restaurant with first person portrayal which may be Margaret Blennerhassett, Confederate spy Belle Boyd, Betsy Ross, Eleanor Roosevelt, or other historic character.

Day Three

After breakfast, tour Henderson Hall, a former slave owning plantation that is preserved to its near original condition before departing for home.